LAWRENCE — Notre Dame went into Saturday’s Non-Public South A semifinal against Paul VI hoping to add a state finals appearance to its list of accomplishments this season — which already included the Irish’s first Mercer County Tournament title since 1988.

Unfortunately for coach Bob Turco and company, that didn’t happen. After hanging tough with the fourth-seeded Eagles until halftime, the floodgates opened after the break. Notre Dame eventually lost 88-66 in front of a packed house in Lawrence.

“We’re building a program,” Turco said. “Step one was to win the Mercer County Tournament, and we wanted to be in at least the state final, but kids are kids. Sometimes good things happen and sometimes bad things happen.”

The Irish came out of the gates quickly, with the school’s all-time leading scorer Isaiah Johnson showing how he was able to scale the Notre Dame record books. Johnson knocked down three straight three-pointers.

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“I’ve been doing this for eight years as a head coach, and Isaiah is flat out the best scorer I’ve ever had,” Turco said. “He’s the first to practice and the last to leave. He’s just a tremendous kid.”

Johnson picked up his third personal foul early in the second half, forcing him to the bench for the rest of the half. Big men Josh Williams and Steve Harris did a good job picking up the scoring slack, however, and the Irish went into the half within striking distance at 43-36.

“It had nothing to do with the refs,” Turco said, dismissing the common sentiment from the bleachers about Johnson’s foul trouble. “They were better than us today.”

That’s when things went south for Notre Dame. Paul VI scored the first seven points of the second half and never looked back, opening up a 19-point lead by the end of the quarter. Matt Risse and Jay Howard were especially effective, ending up with 14 and 17, respectively.

“They came out hot and we never had much of an answer,” Harris said.

The Eagles were also able to limit Johnson after the break by going into a diamond-and-one defense, not giving him any room to operate.

“It was frustrating, because I didn’t feel I could go as hard as I wanted to,” Johnson said.

Johnson ended up with 15 points, 12 of which came in the first quarter. Williams had 27 and Harris finished with 15, each throwing down a bevy of emphatic dunks. Many of those dunks, however, came after the outcome of the game was already decided.

“That’s who we are and who we try to be night in and night out,” Turco said. “We showed some flashes of it, but not enough.”

While the Irish were obviously disappointed by the loss, Turco made a point to praise the senior trio of Johnson, Williams and Harris, who have each played a huge part in turning the Irish program around.

“You know what? I don’t really care what happened in the second half,” Turco said. They put Notre Dame basketball on the map. We’re on a whole different level. They have busted, worked hard as anybody, and they’ve shown these little kids how to work hard. It’s a great step for us and we’ll be around for many years to come.

For the players, it was emotional locker room after the game.

“It was the best year I’ve ever had with this team,” Johnson said. “They are my brothers, each and ever one of them.”